Luke Owen reviews the penultimate issue of Chris Ryall’s The Hollows…
“The Hollows are closing in on Kobayashi, and he’s running out of time to help Lani, Urp, and the rest of the survivors!“
I’ve been very praising of Chris Ryall’s The Hollows. The story has been quite intriguing (if a little bland), the pacing has been very methodical and the artwork from Sam Keith is original enough to make the title stand out. But with the penultimate part to this interesting series, the wheels seem to have fallen off.
The slow pacing that the first two issues had accustomed us to is now gone and the whole comic moves at a mile a minute from panel to panel. Nothing is ever given time to sink in and because of that the story suffers leading into the final issue. Destruction is caused and lives are lost but it just doesn’t seem to matter. That’s not to say that the issue is empty, far from it – the problem is that there is too much. We have an action scene with the Hollows, a rescue, some destruction, an argument, a punch up and a death scene all within the first ten pages – and it doesn’t let up from there.
Which is a real shame because the story, as bland as it is, is quite good and the character of Kobayashi is very engaging. Just like the geniuses that have come before him, he must now pay the price for his ‘brilliant’ inventions and the destruction they can cause. It’s quite a simple characterisation but Keith’s artwork sells all of his troubles much better than words ever could. Similarly his relationship with young Lani is very sweet in an almost Sully/Boo kind of way. However I would say that her character seems a little off at times where in one panel she will be the all-hating bratty kid with venomous anger at Kobayashi and then next she’ll be tending to his wounds. You could argue that this is conflict within her character, but I call it a victim of poor pacing.
The problem the series has is that it’s only four issues long when it could easily have been eight. With all that said, I’ve enjoyed the series enough to be looking forward to the concluding issue. The tease on the final page is really exciting, but could have been an incredible payoff had it come in a few issues time. Sadly, the series is coming to a premature close.
Originally published February 19, 2013. Updated November 6, 2019.
